Robert Bolt

Playwright, Screenwriter

About

Read More

Also Known As

Robert Oxton Bolt

Birth Place

Manchester, England, GB

Born

August 15, 1924

Died

February 20, 1995

Cause of Death

History Of Heart Trouble

Biography

Read More

Despite his assertion that the "film writer is regarded as a technician, like an electrician," Bolt's writing has enjoyed a degree of respect in the movie world usually found only in the theater. He has won three best screenplay Oscars, two for his collaborations with David Lean--"Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) and "Dr. Zhivago" (1965)--and one for Fred Zinnemann's "A Man for All Seasons" (1...

Filmography

Read More

Lady Caroline Lamb (1972)

Without Warning: The James Brady Story (1991)

A Man For All Seasons (1988)

Play As Source Material

A Man For All Seasons (1988)

The Mission (1986)

The Mission (1986)

Photos & Videos

View All

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) -- (Movie Clip) Aqaba

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) -- (Movie Clip) My Name Is For My Friends

Family & Companions

Read More

Celia Ann Roberts

Wife

Painter. Married in 1949; divorced in 1966.

Sarah Miles

Wife

Actor. Married from 1967 to 1975; remarried from 1988 until his death.

Ann Zane

Wife

Married from 1980 to 1985.

Biography

Despite his assertion that the "film writer is regarded as a technician, like an electrician," Bolt's writing has enjoyed a degree of respect in the movie world usually found only in the theater. He has won three best screenplay Oscars, two for his collaborations with David Lean--"Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) and "Dr. Zhivago" (1965)--and one for Fred Zinnemann's "A Man for All Seasons" (1966). The critics took less kindly to his sole directorial effort, "Lady Caroline Lamb" (1972).

Filmography

Director (Feature Film)

Lady Caroline Lamb (1972)

Writer (Feature Film)

Without Warning: The James Brady Story (1991)

A Man For All Seasons (1988)

Play As Source Material

A Man For All Seasons (1988)

The Mission (1986)

The Mission (1986)

The Bounty (1984)

Lady Caroline Lamb (1972)

Ryan's Daughter (1970)

A Man for All Seasons (1966)

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Cast (Short)

Ryan's Daughter (Featurette) (1970)

Zhivago Behind the Camera with David Lean (1965)

David Lean's Film of Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Life Events

1957

First stage success, "Flowering Cherry"

1961

Briefly incarcerated, charged with "civil disobedience", for attending a demonstration for nuclear disarmament

1962

First film as writer, also first collaboration with director David Lean, "Lawrence of Arabia"

1970

Worked uncredited on the screenplay of Mikhail Kalatozov's "Krasnaja palatka/The Red Tent"

1972

Film directing debut (also writer), "Lady Caroline Lamb"

1986

Final screenplay credit, "The Mission"

Videos

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) -- (Movie Clip) Aqaba Peter O'Toole (title character) has intimated that he and colleagues (Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn) were less-than sober for the glorious raid on Aqaba, Jordan, actually shot in Spain, in David Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia, 1962.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) -- (Movie Clip) My Name Is For My Friends Remarkable tension and photography by Freddie Young, as Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) and Tafas (Zia Mohyeddin) meet Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif) in a famous scene from David Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia, 1962.

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) -- (Movie Clip) Did You Know Him Well? Joining director David Lean’s opening after credits, Peter O’Toole (title character) meets his end, then shooting a soundstage interior but real exterior of St. Paul’s, London, Anthony Quayle, Jack Hawkins and Arthur Kennedy among the mourners, from Lawrence Of Arabia, 1962.

Ryan's Daughter (1970) -- (Movie Clip) Good Luck To All Irishmen In Ireland during the First World War, widower schoolteacher Charles (Robert Mitchum) returning from Dublin, at the pub with Father Collins (Trevor Howard), Ryan (Leo McKern), McArdle (Archie O'Sullivan) and Brit soldiers, early in David Lean's Ryan's Daughter, 1970.

Ryan's Daughter (1970) -- (Movie Clip) Is No One Going To Kiss The Bride? At their wedding party in rural Ireland, 1916, the bride Rosy (Sarah Miles) is overwhelmed by attention, especially outcast Michael (John Mills), rescued by Charles (Robert Mitchum) her widower husband, her father (Leo McKern) and the priest (Trevor Howard) monitoring, in David Lean’s Ryan’s Daughter, 1970.

Man For All Seasons, A (1966) -- (Movie Clip) Pray By All Means! Summoned to see Cardinal Wolsey (Orson Welles), Thomas More (Paul Scofield) makes no apology for not helping the king seek another divorce, in Fred Zinnemann's Best Picture Academy Award winner, A Man For All Seasons, 1966.

Man For All Seasons, A (1966) -- (Movie Clip) Lord Chancellor The Chief Justice (Jack Gwillim) administers the most holy oath of office to the new chancellor Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield) in an impressive single shot from Fred Zinnemann's A Man For All Seasons, 1966.

Man For All Seasons, A (1966) -- (Movie Clip) Remember My Office! Newly appointed Chancellor Thomas More (Paul Scofield) suffers impertinence from suitor Roper (Corin Redgrave), daughter Margaret (Susannah York) and knave Rich (John Hurt) in A Man For All Seasons, 1966, from Robert Bolt's play.

Ryan's Daughter (1970) -- (Movie Clip) Show Us Your Fish! Irish townsfolk ridicule British soldiers, then village idiot Michael (Sir John Mills, in his Academy Award winning role), before Father Collins (Trevor Howard) intervenes, in David Lean's Ryan's Daughter, 1970.

Ryan's Daughter (1970) -- (Movie Clip) Ordained By God Seaside in Ireland, 1916, talking about marriage, Rosy Ryan (Sarah Miles) and Father Collins (Trevor Howard) encounter village mute Michael (John Mills), and gun-runners posing as tinkers, led by Barry Foster, in David Lean's Ryan's Daughter, 1970.

Man for All Seasons, A (1966) -- (Movie Clip) Opening Sequence Majestic music by Georges Delerue accompanies the opening sequence and credits from the 1966 Best Picture winner A Man for All Seasons, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Paul Scofield, Robert Shaw and Leo McKern, from the play and screenplay by Robert Bolt.

Man for All Seasons, A (1966) -- (Movie Clip) He Wants Another King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) and his party pretend their visit to Thomas More (Paul Scofield) is a surprise, his daughter (Susannah York) and wife (Wendy Hiller) acquiescing, in Fred Zinnemann's A Man For All Seasons, 1966, from the Robert Bolt play.

Ryan's Daughter - (Original Trailer) An Irish lass is branded a traitor when she falls for a British soldier in David Lean's Ryan's Daughter (1970).

Lawrence of Arabia - (Original Trailer) A British military officer (Peter O'Toole) enlists the Arabs for desert warfare during WWI in Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

Family

Thomas Bolt

Son

Survived him; mother Sarah Miles.

Companions

Celia Ann Roberts

Wife

Painter. Married in 1949; divorced in 1966.

Sarah Miles

Wife

Actor. Married from 1967 to 1975; remarried from 1988 until his death.

Ann Zane

Wife

Married from 1980 to 1985.

Bibliography

By using this site, you agree to our updated Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use